September is Meaningful Connections Month

What's New

RSCCM Facilitates a Community Conversation

Pictured: RSCCM Executive Director Yarden Blumstein and Mediation Manager Ethan Campbell facilitate a community conversation about Lansing's new housing pods.

On August 26, 2025, RSCCM facilitated a conversation about the unhoused in Lansing and new pod housing that is opening to accommodate those in need.

Community members shared their thoughts and concerns during the discussion of the pods. RSCCM's facilitation of the conversation is part of our continued efforts to help address the homelessness crisis in Lansing.

For more information regarding the discussion, read the full story on WLNS.

Meaningful Connections: The Meaning of Our Mission

Our mission demonstrates our aim to bring peace to our communities by providing excellent, accessible services. One of our foremost goals is to be professional, fair, and balanced as we ensure each client receives neutral service no matter their circumstances.

We believe that fair mediation services should not be prohibitively expensive and we work to keep our services on a sliding scale for each client.

Mediator Feature: Paula Zera

Pictured: Mediator and Trainer Paula Zera (left) and Trainer Peg MacDougall (right)

Paula Zera is currently a volunteer mediator, contract trainer, and contract outreach facilitator for RSCCM. She has been mediating for approximately 20 years both privately and for RSCCM. Her background is in law, but currently her sole focus is on mediation and facilitation.

Privately, she does US Postal Service EEO mediations, and as a volunteer mediator she does General Civil Mediation, Domestic Mediation, Child Abuse and Neglect Mediation, Adult Guardianship and Caregiver Mediation, Special Education mediation and facilitation, Behavioral Health mediations and facilitations, and Agricultural mediations.

Learn more about Paula and the rest of RSCCM's mediation team.

Different Kinds of Mediations According to Paula

Mediation is a wonderful process that allows parties in a dispute to work out their issues together with the help of a trained neutral mediator. As such, the type of disagreements that come to mediation can be incredibly varied and unique.

Some of the mediations that are seen at the Resolution Services Center of Central

Michigan include neighborhood disputes involving things like conflicts over property lines, ownership and use of common resources, and nuisances like loud noise.

Other mediations involve family members having disagreements on what to do

about an elderly relative who may need help from a guardian or caregiver to

handle their affairs, or heirs arguing about the disposition of property from a deceased relative, or divorcing parents of minor children who need help reaching

agreement on a co-parenting schedule.

General civil mediations may include lawsuits between partners in a business that is dissolving, parties who are arguing over the terms of a contract that they had

with each other, and other disagreements on how to share or split ownership of

any type of asset.

There are Special Education mediations and facilitations for times when a parent

of a special needs child and a school may disagree as to what services the student

is eligible for, and what services the student specifically needs.

There are also mediations for clients of Community Mental Health that are having

disputes with their case managers or their treatment plans, mediations for parties

who are having disagreements as a result of their interactions with the

Department of Agriculture, and even mediations for people involved in child

abuse or child neglect cases.

What Restorative Justice and Mediation have in common

Pictured: RJ Facilitator Vernice Campuzano

As students return back to school, facilitators are thinking about student needs, including how student issues might be a result of circumstance rather than the fault of the student.

In our Restorative Justice (RJ) program, we focus on providing students space to overcome barriers. Our RJ facilitators work to ensure that students are treated for their individual needs, rather than being passed over for misbehavior.

Learn more about our facilitators' methods by visiting our website.

The Connection Between RJ and Mediation

As an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) center, RSCCM is uniquely positioned to foster resolution through a variety of methods. From helping the youth find ways to manage emotions to reconciling debts between neighbors, conflict resolution supports people in every circumstance. Each piece in the resolution process is a stepping stone toward building a more peaceful community. The center has two departments Restorative Justice (RJ) and Mediation both of which handle issues and help achieve productive dialogue toward positive change.

Restorative justice is a process for resolving conflicts with a focus on building relationships and repairing harm. RJ centers the communities who have been affected by the conflict and ensures that those communities can give voice to their concerns. This includes supporting individuals through issues ranging from the systemic to the familial.

Similarly, mediation is a facilitated conversation that brings parties together to resolve a conflict, typically concerning legal matters or matters of dispute. Because of the more formal context, mediation tends to regard the restoring of relationships as a secondary matter, the primary focus being communication toward an agreement.

Pictured: Yarden Blumstein, Executive Director, RSCCM

There is an important difference between a connection and a meaningful connection. A simple connection may be useful, but often it exists to serve another purpose. A meaningful connection, however, is the purpose itself—something inherent, vital, and transformative.

September Director's Note

In mediation, we sometimes measure success by reaching an agreement. While that may fulfill the immediate goal, the deeper art of mediation is about more than resolution. It is about transforming conflict into an opportunity to create meaningful connections—connections that strengthen relationships, communities, and understanding.

We see this same truth in our restorative justice work. In Zulu, the greeting Sawubona means “I see you.” It reflects the beginning of a meaningful connection, one that acknowledges another person with empathy and presence. The proper response, Ngikhona, means “I am here.” Through this simple yet profound exchange, we affirm one another’s humanity—we make space for each other to truly exist.

This is the essence of meaningful connection, and it is also the essence of our mission. Every mediation, every circle, every conversation is an opportunity to say: I see you. I am here.

That is the heart of our work, and it is what makes this mission so powerful.

RSCCM Meets Community Needs

More about mediation and restorative justice.

👉 Learn about Restorative Justice and Mediation efforts by RSCCM by following us on Facebook.

👉 Check out past RSCCM newsletters by visiting our website.

👉 Check out RSCCM's resources list.

Upcoming Mediation Trainings

October Domestic Relations Mediator Training - Oct 21-28 from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm
November Update Training - Nov 3 from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm
👉 Sign Up for Mediation Trainings

What would you like to see in our next newsletter? Send your ideas to office@rsccm.org.

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Resolution Services Center of Central Michigan (RSCCM) | (517) 485-2274 | office@rsccm.org | www.rsccm.org/ | Subscribe to This Newsletter